Super Smash Brothers: Luck and the Heavens
by Gamingboy
Summary: When strange occurrences happen throughout the Nintendo multiverse, a most unusual plan may have to be put into force to stop them before it is too late. A story featuring at least a cameo by every playable character from SSB64 to SSBB, and with appearances and references to plenty of other Nintendo games and characters. Please review or comment.
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE:**  
Do you want to hear a story? It's a good one, very popular. In fact, you've probably heard it before, but it gets better with every telling...

Once upon a time, there was a peaceful land, a benevolent place where children dreamed without worry, men and women loved and lost without a care in the world, and the inhabitants lived in harmony with the nature around them.

But then, a great and powerful evil came. Some, perhaps, had seen it coming, but none had truly prepared for it. The land was plunged into darkness, the populace trembling in fear as marauders came and went, menacing the innocent.

But then, when all hope seemed lost, a hero arose, bringing light to the darkness and fighting off the marauders. Wherever the hero went, hope followed, and whether fighting alone or with allies, the forces of evil soon were in full retreat. Until, finally, one glorious day, the hero met the great evil face to face, and banished it from the land! And although the evil would return, again and again, a hero would rise and banish it once more.

I'm sure you recognize it, but you may not know that this tale is told in many lands. There is always a evil, there are always heroes, and the heroes always save the land, forcing the evil out.

But what happens when the evil stops trying? What happens when the evil... waits? And thinks? And plans?


	2. Chapter 1: A Rift in Space

**Chapter One: A Rift in Space**

Purple and grey, the gunship of Samus Aran cut silently through the void, all systems go, sensors running and weapons charged. Few would want to meet it in a fight: over one-hundred thirty tons, an engine that allowed for high-relativistic speeds, and enough power beams and plasma cannons to cut through an asteroid belt.

Today, however, was not going to be a day for violence. A few months since the whole debacle with the X Parasites, things were slowly getting back to normal- she even had taken to wearing a red and orange power suit again as the infection subsided. There hadn't been any major incidents of late, nobody the Galactic Federation needed dead... even the Space Pirates had been quiet. _T__oo quiet_, Samus thought.

So instead, Samus was being asked to simply act as a delivery-woman for some science probes. Some type of rift in space. Samus wasn't a scientist, but it'd help pay the bills, and, more importantly, get her back in the good graces of the Federation after she had destroyed the parasites they had wanted to use as weapons. Assuming, of course, that this wasn't some convoluted plot to kill her.  
So there she was, sitting in her gunship, without her armor, clad only in her light-blue Zero Suit. The rift was coming up. Would be visible soon. Technically, there was no reason she even had to get within visual range of it- the probes could have been launched from tens of thousands of AUs away- but Samus was curious.

"Thirty seconds until visual range," said the gunship's computer, imprinted with the mind of Samus's old commander, Adam Malkovich, "Proceed with caution."

Samus turned to her console to prepare the probes. It would be simple, just launch them, check to make sure they didn't say anything immediately, then get out. Simple.

"Rift now in visual range," said Adam Malkovich.

"Thank you, Adam," said Samus, who turned her head to finally face what she was supposed to be investigating.

The rift was impressive, that was for sure, like a clean wound, a strange purple color that stood out from the rest of the space. And, Samus thought, it seemed... unnerving. Not quite right, like it lacked any depth or dimension.

"Send out probes," ordered Samus.

The gunship gave off a brief shutter as the three probes darted out and away from it. Samus saw them move, ever so quickly, towards the rift. Now it was just a matter of waiting. Samus didn't have to wait long. As the probes approached, Adam called out, ghostly, from his artificial being:

"There are several types of radio signals being detected from the rift, lady. I'll patch them in... any objections, lady?"

Samus extended her right arm and, turning her hand, gave the ship's computer a thumbs down.

"Patching in now. Unknown location. Translation software will be engaged when needed."

Samus leaned forward, a feeling in her gut gnawing at her. She wasn't sure what it meant, but it probably wasn't good. It was the feeling she'd had in her gut in the past only when bad things were about to happen. K-2L, the Zero Mission, the whole Phazon affair, the destruction of Zebes, the Bottle Ship, her times on SR388. Those were times where she'd gotten that feeling.

But what she heard over the radio seemed... mundane. Unusual, but mundane.

"We're here from Mute City," said a human announcer, although Samus had no idea where such a city was, although it was, admittedly, a big galaxy, "and as we near the final lap, Captain Falcon maintains his lead!"

A race of some kind, Samus realized. She never had much time for sports as she flew from place to place, but she had never heard of a racer called Captain Falcon. But still, just to be sure...

"Adam, please bring up any data on Captain Falcon," she said.

"Hang on a second," replied the computer.

The announcer continued to describe the race: "Oh, here comes Mr. EAD, and... NO! NO! Samurai Goroh just smashed him away!

Better luck next time, EAD! It's Falcon, Goroh, Stewart and Summers and the final lap begins now!"

Adam interjected: "No data on any being named 'Captain Falcon', although there is a [i]Captain Falcone[/i] in the Federation Marines.

Any more requests?"

"Mute City, Samurai Goroh, Mr. EAD," Samus said.

"Goroh is trying to get past Falcon, but the Blue Falcon is maintaining the lead!" screamed the announcer.

"No data found, although there's some that suggests that EAD was a... hang on, another broadcast is coming in..."

There was brief static, and then some unintelligible voices, but then the translator kicked in, and all was made clear.

Well, the words were made clear, the meaning wasn't.

"Hocotate Freight! The best deep-space shipping company on Hocotate! Call us at..."

Adam interrupted:  
"There is no known planet called Hocotate."

"I figured as much," said Samus, looking at the rift ahead, a frown upon her face. That feeling in her gut grew bigger. Something bad was going to happen. She breathed in, preparing, just in case.

"Another message coming in, Samus," said Adam, "A distress call."

A thought, and Samus Aran's power suit was materializing around her. As her vision had a heads-up display emerge in front of her, Samus could almost hear the ancient Chozo, their calls echoing through caverns and darkness.

"Put it on, Adam," she said.

The static broke, and there came a voice, the voice of a leader, young, a bit cocky, but still the voice of a leader:

"This is Fox McCloud of the Star Fox team, myself and another team member have become trapped in a rift in space, requesting assistance," the voice- Fox McCloud- said.

"Yeah, genius, because broadcasting who we are will totally bring help and not anybody who wants to kill us," said a second voice.

"Quiet, Falco," said the first voice, Fox.

Inside the gunship, Samus was suddenly unsure what to do. Perhaps they were explorers or soldiers, lost inside the rift, but they way the second voice had spoken, it seemed just as likely they were criminals who very well could have deserved the fate they had found themselves in. But if...

"Adam, can you detect any vehicles in there?" asked Samus.

"Yes, analyzing..." said the computer, "The transmissions seem to be coming from two small fighter-craft utilizing gravity diffusing technology."

_Hardly the weapons of criminals_, thought Samus,_ at least, not around here_.

Samus reached her finger out, opening a channel:

"Fox McCloud, this is Samus Aran. I am located outside of the rift. Activating homing signal. Follow it, copy?"

There was a brief pause.

"Copy, Samus Aran, following now," said Fox.

"Well, if this is the end of McCloud and Lombardi, at least we aren't going down at the hands of Andross, huh, Fox?"

"Please, Falco, follow that beacon signal."

There was then silence for a few minutes, besides the occasional chatter between the two pilots and report by Adam. At least, until one particular report by the computer:

"Samus, probes are indicating that the rift is beginning to close..."

* * *

Fox McCloud and Falco Lombardi had simply been meaning to go on a training flight. Nothing more, nothing less. It was probably just happenstance, Fox thought, that they'd end up flying into a rift. It had come out of nowhere, like a tear in the fabric of space. They didn't have enough time to do a U-turn. The rift closed behind them. They were trapped. Had Slippy been there, he no doubt would have had some theory or scanner to determine what was happening, but old Slip wasn't with them.

It was only because of the kindness of a stranger that they were now approaching an exit. Maybe if they got out they could a hold of the Great Fox and find out what was going on. Now, though, it just seemed a case of flying towards the signal.

At least, that's what Fox had hoped, the message that was now coming across the channel:

"Samus Aran to Fox McCloud, my sensors our indicating the rift is closing. Get out of there!"

"You heard her, Falco! Gun it!"

The Arwings' back thrusters burst, and they sped forward.

* * *

"They're not going to make it," said Samus, looking at a radar screen that estimated the distance left between the two fighter-craft and the rapidly-closing rift.

"Rift will close in estimated one minute," said Adam.

"You have one minute, Star Fox Team," radioed Samus, "less than it now."

"Copy that," said Fox McCloud, calm and cool under pressure.

* * *

As the Arwing sped forward, Fox couldn't help but think a bit. Mainly about his father, James McCloud. He'd been the original Star Fox. He died, although Fox still swore he had seen him, heard him, since then.

The rift was closing up ahead. Maybe they would make it, maybe not. But, above all, Fox knew one thing: he wasn't going to just give up. That was one thing his father had always told him: Never give up.

"C'mon, c'mon..."

The rift was closing in, but it was also closing shut.

"Fox, it was an honor," said Falco.

"Don't honor us yet..."

Closer, closer, closer. Just a few dozen more yards, just a few more seconds. They could see the real space, the real universe, blue and black amongst the purple. But the purple was closing...

* * *

"The rift will close in five, four, three, two..." said Adam.

Just then, blasting through just in time, were two swept-wing fighters, small, one-man.

"The rift is closed," said Adam.

"Hello, this is Fox McCloud, Samus... thank you," said the voice.

Samus gave herself a slight smile, and let her power suit dissolve.

"Glad to hear, Fox McCloud. Now... do you have any idea what is going on?"

"Funny, I was going to ask you that," replied Fox.

* * *

Beyond the space and stars, somewhere else, somebody ran down the endless floor, they had seen something that wasn't supposed to happen. Something that shouldn't have happened without them either knowing or causing it.

Someone, or something, was messing with the multiverse.


	3. Chapter 2: The Champion and Cerulean

**Chapter Two: The Champion and Cerulean City**

In the history of the Pokemon world, there have been a very few who could truly be called a master, somebody who was adept not only at Pokemon battling, but also catching them. They were, and are, the very best, like no one had ever been.

And it was probably a safe bet to say that Red was the one that all of them were measured up to. Leaving Pallet Town at the age of 11, with a Pikachu by his side who was so stubborn he wouldn't even get in his pokeball. And yet, over the following months and years, Red did things nobody else had done before: he beat all of the Gym Leaders, defeated both the Elite Four and Blue (his rival from Pallet), foiled the evil schemes of Giovanni and Team Rocket, and, perhaps most amazing of all, he at one point or another had in his possession at least one of all 151 species of the Kanto Pokedex... and he had gained more since then. He had lost, of course- all Pokemon trainers lose now and then- but he was, to most, the greatest of the Pokemon masters.

He was now in his early 20s, the boy had become a man, and now he heard talk of some type of "Pokemon World Tournaments" that were going to happen in Unova. He was bit worried about the fact that none of the other masters seemed to be interested in going- not even Ethan- but it would be a fun challenge, and he'd never been to Unova, so he probably would go.

Today, however, Red was coming to Cerulean City, his buddy Pikachu by his side and his teams rounded out by Charizard, Blastoise, Venusaur, Snorlax and Lapras. He considered maybe bringing his Espeon instead of Lapras, but considering where he was going he thought Lapras would work better. Cerulean, after all, was home of Misty's water gym, and if he was going to test some of the trainers there, he figured that having an extra water Pokemon could help him teach some of them some water Pokemon tactics. That's why she'd invited him, after all. And they were almost there. The walk through Mount Moon was complete, and he could already see Cerulean coming up.

So could Pikachu.

"Pikachu-pi!" shouted the mouse Pokemon.

"Yeah, that's right, Pikachu, we're going to see Misty," said Red, who now could see the old sign ahead: "Cerulean City: A mysterious, blue aura surrounds it." He still could remember the first time he'd seen that sign. Blue, his rival, had vandalized it with a taunt.

It felt so long ago. Heck, everything seemed so long ago. He couldn't remember a single thing he'd done since his fight with Ethan that he'd done anything truly as exciting as the old days. There were still lots of interesting things happening across the world, in far away places, but Kanto had been quiet.

The price of greatness, he guessed.

"Let's go, Pikachu," he said.

* * *

"So, what happened?" asked one of the beings standing there, in the darkened endless plain, "besides the fact that our plaza has become so much darker?"

The being, like the one it was addressing and the others scattered around, would probably have looked strange to Red, had he been there. After all, it had a much bigger head, it's arms a bit too long and perfect, and legs that had the same strange perfect evenness.

The second being responded somewhat hurriedly: "Well, Bright, you see, I was assigned to check out the overall structure of the local multiverse, and..."

"I thought Water was going to do it today, Sky," said Bright, who was something of the leader of the beings.

"Well, he was, but he begged off, so I took over," replied Sky.

"Okay, so, what happened?" said Bright.

"I detected openings- incursions- into a bunch of universes. There was one at 0781, another at 0286, in 0886, 0789, 0293..." Sky trailed off.

"What has been doing this?" asked Bright.

"I don't know, it's like it's been hidden from us. I can't see the people doing it, merely where the rift is."

Bright rubbed his hand against his chin, "Sky, somebody is always watching at least a portion of every universe in local multiversal space. They would have seen something happen."

Sky jumped in the air, ever so much, just to emphasize what he was about to say: "Yes, but, they can't see everything. And..."

"What would we do about it anyway, Sky?"

"I was thinking," he moved his arms up and down, as if he was trying to shake the idea out of himself, "that we could put together a team of the best heroes to face this threat."

"We don't know if it is a threat, Sky..." Bright said.

* * *

The Pichu was the first to notice it, the sensitivity of youth. One second, it was just scrounging through the garbage looking for some trinket or whatever to amuse itself (it was a city Pichu, after all), the next second, it felt something wrong. Something in the air.

The Jigglypuff, attempting to sing for it's supper (but generally just sending it's enemies to sleep), fell silent.

The Pidgeys and Pidgeottos took to the air.

But it took Pikachu to finally make Red realize something was happening. The electric mouse ran in front of it's trainer:

"Pika-pi!" it cried, "Pika!"

"What is it, Pikachu?"

"Pichu!" came a cry. Red turned around and saw a small Pichu running towards him.

"Pi-ka!" shouted Pikachu at the young Pichu.

_Maybe they're cousins or something_, thought Red.

The Pichu stopped just by Pikachu, and the two soon had entered a conversation.

Then suddenly, in the distance, there was a sound of thunder.

* * *

Elsewhere, there was a being named Cedar. He sat there, monitoring and watching his assigned universe- universe 0296. It was a good universe to watch, since it was filled with so many interesting creatures and there were plenty of interesting people in it.

Currently, he was watching Red and Pikachu, two of Universe 0296's most notable characters. They were being pestered by a Pichu, right now, and the Pikachu seemed to be listening to it, so he probably had something to say. Now a Jigglypuff was coming up to them, and was similarly shouting, leaping up and down.

"Jiggly! Puff!" yelled the little round Pokemon.

The Pikachu now pointed to the sky, jumping up and down, desperately trying to get it's master's attention...

* * *

Red couldn't remember the last time Pikachu had been like this. And the sky, something about the sky. Pikachu was trying to tell him to look to the sky.

And suddenly, there was something that Red couldn't ignore. Like nails against a chalkboard or a Magnemite scratching against pavement, it put Red's hair on end. He turned, and looked to the sky.

And there was a scar. Opening. Red could hear people shrieking throughout Cerulean, the Pichu ran and hid behind it's older cousin.

Red always had had some good eyes, able to see things from a good distance aways. He'd never doubted his eyes before, but now, he couldn't believe them. For out of the scar that had ripped through the sky, he saw small dots. And as they got bigger, he realized they weren't any dots. They were old sailing ships.

Warships flying through the sky.

* * *

Cedar began to zoom in on the intruders as Sky and Bright ran over, hearing his call.

"Where's Field, Cedar?" said Bright, "He has a stake in this world as well."

"Bright," said Sky as the intruders came into view, "I don't think Field matters..."

Upon the screen, the airships' covered the horizon. There had to be dozens of them, gigantic propellors in the air, keeping them aloft. Flying by alongside them were small, masked, red-clad beings, small but numerous. And manning the airships were turtles- some with red shells and some with green shells- walking on two feet. And there were spherical bombs, living and walking. Little small brown beings, seemingly without arms, were there as well.

"Koopas," said Bright.

"That's not all," said Sky, as he pointed to one of the other airships. They were like bigs, and they carried swords, spears and bows.

"Moblins and Bokoblins," said Bright, "Perhaps you were right, Sky."

* * *

The strange airships began to descend, and Red could see small black dots emerge from them.

"Pikachu!" cried his friend.

It was then that Red realized what they were: missiles. Giant black missiles. And they were coming towards Cerulean City. Others were realizing this: children were fleeing, some were screaming, and none wanted to face what was coming. Cerulean City, after all, wasn't a place that was troubled very often.

But Red wasn't going to run. No, maybe these were some kind of new Pokemon, or maybe they were just missiles. But either way, they were coming after people and Pokemon, innocent people and Pokemon, and he wasn't going to let that happen. Not while he, or any of his Pokemon, were still standing.

The lead missile was getting closer, Red could see a vile smile upon it, and eyes. Heck, for second he thought he saw it blink. No, it couldn't have. It was time to battle.

"Pikachu, go!"

"Pika!" cried his companion, who leapt forward. Only it wasn't just Pikachu who leapt forward, the little Pichu leapt forward too. The Jigglypuff, at least, was still standing back. For now, at least.

In the distance, faint_ booms _went off- other missiles were hitting the outskirts of Cerulean.

"Those people..." said Red, "They..."

The missile was becoming even closer. Pikachu turned around, waiting for instructions. He wasn't going to wait forever- self preservation overrode even loyalty- but Pikachu had a lot of loyalty. He would wait until the last possible second.

He wouldn't need to. Thrusting his finger out for emphasis, Red commanded Pikachu:

"Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu's cheeks flared with 100,000 volts of electricity, and then, like lightning, it was sent out with a hefty "CHUUUUUUUU!"

It hit the missile dead-on, and the missile, the_ bullet_, fell to the ground, dead, no longer a threat. The Pichu took to the air, cheering as it jumped up and down. But another missile was incoming, and Pikachu didn't even have to wait this time, almost as if psychic, it knew full well was Red was about to say: "Thunderbolt."

And soon, another bullet fell from the sky.

Beyond, the beings watched. The invading army was meeting resistance: Red and his Pikachu were shooting down the Bullet Bills that were being sent near their location, the trainers of the Cerulean City Gym had emerged, their water Pokemon already going after the fires. Now, though, the actual attackers were nearing. The waters knew what they were: airships of the Koopa Troop, carrying Shy Guys, Goombas and Koopa Troopas. But not just them, but elements of the army of the dread king of evil, Ganon. Bokoblins and Moblins.

"How?" said Second, who had been called from his viewing of some archives of the timelines and worlds that 'oblins usually were found in.

The others remained silent. They didn't know. And with the exception of Free- who had gone to scour Universe 0781, they weren't doing a thing besides watching. The Shy Guys- the fly guys, really- came first...

* * *

"Go, Blastoise!" shouted Red.

Red wasn't sure what these were- maybe they were some kind of new Pokemon- but they were definitely living and thinking. And they really didn't seem to like him or anybody else very much: he saw one of them shoot at a youngster with a slingshot before it turned towards him and Pikachu. There had to be about four of them now, although there were hundreds in the sky above. Red, most of them were, small- perhaps the a little big larger in size than Pikachu- with strange white masks.

And, well, now they were in troubles.

"Blastoise, here we go! Hydro Pump!"

Blastoise aimed it's two giant water cannons at the approaching creatures, and, unleashed it's cry as water came blasting from them. The lead invader was knocked back, hitting the other that was behind it- they both fell to the ground, the lead one having fainted.

_One down, three to go,_ thought Red.

The Pichu leapt forward and charged at the fallen invader, but he wasn't going to reach it. Jigglypuff, rolling like a bowling ball, passed him. The invader was just getting to it's feet, but it only had time to jump up in shock before the puffball struck it, sending it backward to the ground, fainted.

_Okay, two down, two to go._  
The next two invaders were getting ever closer- one of them had pulled out a slingshot again. They wouldn't be a threat for much longer, though.

"Pikachu! Blastoise! Take them down, Thunderbolt and Water Spout!"

Pikachu jumped forward, taking a place alongside Blastoise. Beams of water and electricity emerged from them, and soon, the other two invaders lay fainted.

Red stopped for a second, looking to the sky as Pikachu and Blastoise celebrated their victory with a high five and the Pichu and Jigglypuff tried to join in. It wasn't over yet. No, it most definitely wasn't. Because coming straight at him was... an airship. It's shadow moved over him and the Pokemon, and they too looked upwards. Strange figures looked down upon them, and with cries and war-calls, they threw down ropes.

"Pikaaa!" yelled out the electric mouse Pokemon. It turned and faced it's master, concern upon it's face.

"I know, Pikachu..."

Down the ropes came strange creatures. Some of them appeared to be large, human-like beings, but with the physiognomy of a twisted version of a Pignite or Grumpig. The others resembled something like large Squirtles, only of a yellow color with green shells.

"...We're surrounded..."

Pikachu leapt upon Red's shoulder.

"...so they're in trouble!"

With quick movements, Red reached down, and, one after another, called forth his team to join Pikachu, Blastoise and the two wild Pokemon in the struggle.

* * *

It had been a long time since he'd seen Red, the man in black thought.

Too long.

Over a decade had passed since that final showdown at the very gateway of the plateau.

Red. So much potential, so many possibilities. And yet, here he was, still fighting with that Pikachu and the others that he'd used back then.

One of the Pignite-like henchman- Moblins, he was told they were- was knocked backwards by the Snorlax. One of the hammer-wielding Koopas was being slashed and burned by that Charizard of his. Some sort of Jigglypuff- a _Jigglypuff _of all Pokemon, had sent a heavily-armored "Dark" Koopatrol to sleep and was now pounding it into submission.

No matter, thought the man in black, time is already running out for him. He looked to the sky. The Magikoopas had arrived. A broad smile came across of the man in black's face.

Red's Lapras hit the final Moblin with a full-on ice beam. It fell to the ground, frozen and unconscious.

Now was the time.

* * *

"Who are these jerks?" asked Red, to nobody in particular as he took a second to catch his breath. The only ones who were around to listen were Pikachu, Pichu and the Jigglypuff- he'd put the rest of his team back in their pokeballs.

"Pikaaa..." said Pikachu, which Red figured meant _"I don't know."_

More airships were cutting through the sky. And now some sort of blue-cloaked creatures were flying alongside them. These weren't Pokemon- he thought he'd seen some kid try to throw a pokeball at one of those harmless little red ones, only for it to bounce off the invader, same as if he had thrown it at a human or a rock. He couldn't help but worry that he could kill them, or something, or, worse, that they'd kill him. He had to get to the Cerulean Gym - Misty would be able to help.

Pikachu heard the newcomer first, and let his master know it with an angry "Pi! Ka!" The other Pokemon spun to attention as well, although they didn't recognize him. Red, however, still was focused on the foe that was in the skies, thinking.

That is, until he heard the newcomer speak. It was a voice he never wanted to hear again.

"Red of Pallet Town," said the voice, male and a bit deep, "I always said we'd meet again someday."

Red spun quickly to face him. He had a sharp black suit, slick black hair, and a smug grin across face.

"Giovanni of Viridian City," said Red, "_You _are behind this!"

Giovanni tugged down on his suit and let loose a hushed and sarcastic laugh, "Team Rocket is over, boy."

"I heard, Ethan shut you Rockets down in Johto, Giovanni," said Red.

Giovanni sneered at the champion, "I'm well aware of the Johto champion, Red of Pallet Town."

"So whatever happened to devoting your life to studying Pokemon, Giovanni?" asked Red. More of the blue-cloaked creatures flew overhead, like witches on brooms. He was getting worried, really. There seemed to be a lot of them.

"Did I say I was studying, or trying to become stronger, boy?" he paused, once again tugging on his suit, "I can't quite remember."

Pikachu's cheek began to spark. Red moved his hand down._ Stop_, he was signaling,_ not now_.

"Why are you attacking Cerulean, Giovanni?"

Giovanni again gave off his hushed laugh.

"Who said my associates were attacking Cerulean City, Red? It just happens to be in the way of our real target," he said, "A very powerful target, one you are familiar with, Red of Pallet Town."

Red's eyes widened as he realized what Giovanni spoke of.

"The monster of the Cerulean Cave, hidden away from the world in an unknown dungeon. The ultimate Pokemon..." said Giovanni.

A loud explosion echoed in the distance. Red knew what it meant.

"Mewtwo," he said. Pikachu threw in a "Pi-ka!" for emphasis.

Red then blinked: "You won't find it in the Cerulean Cave, I captured him. Years ago. He's in Bill's box right now."

A silence fell upon the two old foes. Even the Pokemon weren't saying a thing. Only distant explosions could be heard.

And then Giovanni, once again pulling on his suit, replied: "I know you're bluffing, child."

"I used the Master Ball on it!" shouted Red.

Giovanni's laugh was no longer hushed, it was a far louder one.

"Fwahahahahahahahaha! You very well did, Red of Pallet Town!"

He stopped, and then, menacingly, without a touch of humor, added: "And then you let it go."

Pikachu's ears popped up: "Pika!?" He was shocked that the Rocket-man would know.

"It was too powerful for anybody," replied Red, "Especially you, and I swear, I will defend it from you."

"Fwahaha, What are you going to do to me, Red? You can't get to the cave in time! You've already lost!"

Another, very loud, explosion. Red knew what had to be done.

He pulled out a Pokeball, turned his hat backwards, and, with a mighty heave, called forth his Flame Pokemon:

"Here we go, Charizard!"

He shouted at Giovanni something simple:

"This isn't over."

* * *

_The cave is cold, dark and dangerous, but it is home. And I am the master of it, I am the lord of it. I did not choose to be born- none of us are- but I was not truly born. I was created. Spliced and grown, given great power, but also so much pain and anger._

I fled here, far from the humans, alongside the Ditto, the Kadabra, and the Rhydon. Here, I could rest. Here, I could be at peace. Alone. A self-imposed dungeon.

Occasionally, some souls would wander in. But never far enough to see me. They would run away, their scared cries echoing as they and their Pokemon rushed back out of the cave. After awhile, they stopped entirely. I sensed that somebody had sealed my dungeon off, so that only the best could attempt to conquer it.

Only once did somebody actually reach my inner sanctum to face me. It would likely have been a brutal battle. But the trainer, the boy, simply produced a purple ball, and threw it at me. And so, I was captured.

The boy- Red, he said his name was- seemed to be of a good heart, not like the evil men of my youth. But after a few battles, against the most powerful of foes, he and I both realized it was not to be. I was just too powerful for this world, something that would tip the balance too far.

So I returned to my cave. And waited. Undisturbed.

Until today.

I heard the explosions long before they breached my home, and I sensed that some great force had struck the nearby city. But it was not my place to care.

I heard the cries of battle, but it was not my place to care.

I heard the airships near my home, and the cackle of the invaders. But it was not my place to care.

But now, now they were entering my home. Now I care.

I reach out psychically, and sense them coming. They are not from here, not man or Pokemon. They seem to call themselves Magikoopas, and they are coming for me. I prepare for them- they are not like Red, who's intentions I did not know. They aim to take me. Not even as a trainer takes a Pokemon, but rather as a tool or slave. I will not let that happen. Not without a fight.

I begin to form a ball of energy, a Shadow Ball. The Magikoopas burst into my domain, wearing strange blue robes and holding out what I believe would be called wands. I release the first Shadow Ball at the lead, and knock him down into the water. I send another, one that is smaller, at another one, and similarly send him downwards, shouting as he falls.

But there are more of them, I cannot stop them all. One of them knocks a hanging stalagmite towards me. I am barely able to dodge it, I smell the soil and dust it kicks into the air. It is then, however, that something hits me, and I fade away, I am sleep... sleeping... sleep...

I awaken! And I see light! So much light! The sun above, and Cerulean City... below?

I realize that I am floating, trapped inside a bubble. And I am flying. The Magikoopas surround me, and I can see airships, like human boats, flying through the skies. Such strange creatures inhabit them, and so filled with darkness. A darkness that now fills me. I must escape! I will escape! I unleash a small Shadow Ball, but it hits the sphere without effect. I send fourth a psychic strike in the form of a wave, and it dissipates harmlessly against my bubbly prison. I slam my tail with quick ferocity, but feel only the pain as it hits the bubble. It has no give. One of the Magikoopas turns and laughs at my predicament.

And I become more angry.

Suddenly, though, I sense some type of hope. I feel him coming at us, upon his Charizard, his Pikachu by his side. It is Red. The lone person to capture me. The lone person, perhaps, to show any care or love to me. And he is trying to save me now! I see him fly past the airships, and soon I see him near my captors. But one of the Magikoopas is ready. It fires a ray at Charizard, and I see and sense it hitting him.

And the wings of Charizard disappear. His long horns shorten, he grows smaller. He is not evolving... he is... devolving?

And I see Red and Pikachu falling.

And I feel anger! Anger! Anger!

* * *

Red had seen many things in his days as a trainer, but never this. And, he had to be honest, this wasn't the way that he thought he and Pikachu would go to the big Pokemon Center in the sky. Getting his Charizard de-evolved while trying to save Mewtwo from invaders that had come from a rift in the sky wasn't really on his mind this morning. There were some things he could do, though. He reached down to his belt, grabbed Chariz- Charmeleon's- pokeball.

"Charmeleon, return!" he yelled, and soon Charmeleon was back safe in the ball. Now time for Pikachu. Maybe he'd die, but Pikachu...

A roar echoed through the air then. And, looking down, Red saw the one thing he thought could make the day worse:

A Gyarados flying at him and Pikachu. Truly, this day couldn't get any worse. He looked over to Pikachu, still falling.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu shook his head. But why? Why wouldn't he want to take down the Gyarados, avoid the possibility of getting devoured?

And so, Red closed his eyes and prepared for the end. And then, he felt a tug, and a brief shout of "Pika!" He couldn't help but think out loud:

"Ugh... am I dead?"

"Not today, Red," said a woman's voice, a voice that Red had heard before.

He opened his eyes, and he saw her: Misty of the Cerulean City Gym.

And then, exhausted, everything turned a little black and hazy.


	4. Chapter 3: Warioware's Unusual Visitor

**Chapter Three: An Unusual Visitor at WarioWare**

Somewhere beyond, Sky had only one question for Free:

"What is going on in Universe 0781?!"

The answer wasn't quite what was expected.

* * *

Diamond City! A sparkling gem of a metropolis! So far away from the rest of the Mushroom World. The perfect place for an entrepreneur to live and work far from the bureaucracy of the Mushroom Kingdom, where one wouldn't be judged for eccentricity or faults!

And one of those entrepreneurs was Wario! Wario, president owner and CEO of WarioWare Incorporated, one of the finest makers of microgames in all of the Mushroom World!

And today was a good day for WarioWare, for some of it's wayward employees had finally returned. Or maybe they'd never left. Or maybe they had been fired but then rehired. Or maybe they never even technically worked there.

Nobody was quite sure. Wario wasn't much for keeping records, other than the list of people who had slighted him. A fat, pot-bellied bear of a man with a pink nose and zig-zagging mustache, he also wasn't one for fancy suits. No, today, Wario sat on his fancy chair in something that better was suited for a motorcycle: a yellow helmet with his initial upon it, a blue denim jacket, tight-fitting pink jeans...

...and a nasty temper!

"All of you, every single one of you!" he shouted, pointing to the employees around him. From left to right they stood before him: Orbulon the white weird-headed alien, Ashley the young witch, Mona the peppy high-schooler, 9-Volt the inventive fanboy, and, finally... Jimmy T., the blue afro'ed disco dude.

"All of us what, Wario?" said Mona.

"All of you left me!" said Wario, slamming his large fists upon his desk, "Left me! How am I supposed to make money without my microgames team!?"

"You could try... paying us?" said Mona, "I mean, you still haven't given us anything from the last..."

She trailed off as she heard a most unusual sound:  
_Thoomp. Thoomp. Thoomp._

"What is that sound?" asked Ashley.

Suddenly, the door slammed open, and, marching in- taking the top of the doorway with him and a loud _thoomp_ with every step, was a most unusual visitor for Diamond City. Standing there, large, orange, green and red, was the King of the Koopas himself...

"I AM BOWSER, KING OF THE KOOPAS!" he boomed in a voice that seemed more like a roar than actual speech, "AND I AM HERE TO SPEAK WITH WARIO!"

The WarioWare employees just stood and stared, Wario, meanwhile, silently reached into a desk drawer, checking to make sure he had a bomb ready... just in case.

Bowser stomped his clawed feet, and, with a roar, made another declaration. This time, fire seemed to start to emanate from his mouth as he spoke:

"MOVE ALONG, PUNY FLEAS, I WANT TO SPEAK TO HIM! SO SCRAM!"

The employees of WarioWare scattered to the sides of the room quickly, save for 9-Volt, who stood in awe at the famed villain, mouth agape.

"9-Volt, get out of the way, man!" yelled Jimmy T.

Then, like out of a trance, 9-Volt bolted out of the way as well, and Bowser was free to walk right up to Wario's desk. Wario, who was a bit shocked himself at Bowser's appearance (he'd come to Diamond City to_ avoid_ things like this, after all), was the first to open his mouth.

"What do you want, Koopa?" he said, leaning forward over his desk, puffing up his chest, trying as hard as he could to look big.

Bowser stayed silently for a second, and then, with a voice completely unlike the roar he once had, he practically stuttered out:

"I have come to request your..." he trailed off suddenly, reduced to a mumble. Wario moved his chair up, thinking he knew what the Koopa was about to say. He put a hand to an ear.

"Yes? I can't heeeeaaar yoooouuuuu..."

Bowser began to speak again: "I have come to request your..."

"Yeeeeeeessss?"

Bowser began to stomp up and down, his horns scratching the ceiling as he roared: "OH, I'VE COME TO REQUEST YOUR HELP, YOU PUNY..." his voice turned back into a "normal" tone: "...wonderful... person..."

A hush fell over the office, as the words sank in. Bowser? Asking help from Wario? Bowser didn't ask help from anybody, and even if he did, why would he ask Wario for it? Diamond City was quite a haul, after all.

But to Wario, it wasn't a shock. Instead, it was a joke. And Wario thought it was _hilarious._

"Wah-HAHAHAHA! WEEEH HAHAHA," he laughed, pounding his hands against his desk as he did so, "You need _my help_? Bhwahahahahahah!"

Wario then stopped just as quickly as he started, swallowed, scratched his ear, and then sat up.

"Uh, why do you need my help, Bowser?" he said, trying as hard as he could to sound polite, but not doing it very well.

Bowser moved his arms up to emphasize:

"You see, my kingdom and troop has sort of..." he moved his arms- and head- down, "_been stolen from me._"

"BHWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Wario cackled stopping only long to ask: "Who stole it from you?"

Bowser, in his more pathetic, almost confused lower voice, began to speak:

* * *

_"Well, you see here, a few days ago, some guy showed up. A lot of guys, actually. And they were led by this one tall guy. Looked a bit like you, Mario and the Princess. Only taller. And kind of creepy looking, almost as creepy as that Waluigi guy you hang out with. Almost, at least. Ah, what was his name... I can't remember. Had two Ns right after the other in it, though... I think._

Anyway, so he shows up and demands to speak to me in private, refuses to give his name, his address, or what he wants, or anything. And he says he wants this totally private, nobody else. Not my kid, not Kamek, nobody. And I, figuring this could be a good gag or maybe some yummy dinner, let him.

So he tells me his name- ah, what was it... and then he says 'Throw in with me and my friends and you will rule not just the Mushroom Kingdom, but everything beyond.'

So then I'm like: 'Yeah? So why should I help you? I'll probably end up doing all the work, and then you'll take all of the credit!'

Then he's all, like, 'You are making a major mistake, you do not understand my true power. I have allies in many lands beyond your imagination and power great enough to control them, blah, blah blah, if you do not agree to help me it will mean your extermination, blah blah blah...'

So then I, of course, used my great diplomatic tact and offered him a deal: If he let me command this whole exhibition and agreed to serve in my Koopa Troop, I'd let him live. A fair deal, right?

But then, he just laughs. So I call in some Goombas and Koopatrols to get him, and he just keeps laughing. And then, and this is what really bugs me, he just walked out, with my troops following him. Then he just disappeared. By the end of the day, everybody had just left me. AND I WILL NOT STAND THIS! I AM THE KING OF THE KOOPAS! And...I figured maybe you'd help me."

* * *

"And that's how it happened," he finished.

9-Volt, a big fan of all of the Mushroom Kingdom's heroes and villains (he based lots of his microgames on them), couldn't help but ask a question:

"What about the Koopalings? Surely they stayed with you?"

Bowser merely growled.

"I'll take that as a no."

Bowser snapped, leaping up and down, his horns and even spikes scratching the ceiling as he stomped up and down like a spoiled child.

"OF COURSE IT MEANS NO! THEY ALL LEFT ME TO GO WITH THE TALL GUY! EVERYBODY BUT JUNIOR, KAMEK AND A LAKITU!"

Wario stood up and slammed his fists on his desk and yelled out: "STOP IT, OR YOU ARE PAYING FOR THAT CEILING!"

Bowser stopped and sneered:

"Diplomatic immunity, Wario. Now, are you going to aid me in my quest to help me take back the Koopa Troop?"

"WAHAHAHA! No, it serves you right for what you did to me on Rainbow Road that one time," he said, "Besides, you probably have no idea where they went anyway!"

Bowser was silent for a second, and then, growlingly, said:

"I guess there is no honor between Mario-haters anymore."

And then he turned around and left, slamming the door as he went.  
And then there was silence.  
And more silence.  
And then part of the ceiling fell down, causing Ashley to jump up in surprise. And so now, apparently, the WarioWare employees decided it was safe to speak.

"So, uh, Wario?" asked Mona, "How come this is basically the first time we've met anybody you usually hang out with?"

"Yeah, man, how come we've never been invited to any of those gatherings? Jimmy always was dancing around the basepaths at the Thang family picnics," said Jimmy in the third person, "I'd have been great during one of those baseball games."

"And kart racing, why can't we go kart racing?" asked Mona, speaking again.

"Why is that we haven't even seen Waluigi?" threw in 9-Volt.

Wario just had one thing to say to all of them:  
**"GET TO WORK!"**

* * *

Outside of WarioWare, three individuals waited: Bowser's son (the brilliantly named "Bowser Junior"), his chief advisor Kamek the Magikoopa, and, inexplicably, a Lakitu hanging out with a camera, despite the fact nobody was watching.

Together, the three of them constituted the remnant of the once-mighty Koopa Troop. And now, they saw their King, Bowser Koopa, walking out of a greedy entrepreneur's corporate headquarters, utterly empty-handed.

Kamek spoke first, polite but full of a knowledge that he probably was far smarter than his King:

"I take it that Wario did not take up your offer, my Lord?"

"No. The two-bit knock-off just laughed at me..."

"C'mon dad! Go show him a lesson!" cried out Bowser Junior, with a shrill voice, "Show him who's boss!"

Bowser, speaking in his more mild-mannered voice as opposed to his roar: "Son, don't settle for a knock-off when the original article will do."

Kamek straightened up and his voice seemed to gain a spring in it's metaphorical step: "Are you suggesting we go enlist the aid of Mario, Lord Bowser?"

A silence hung through the air, but then was broken a few seconds later by the return of Bowser's angry, roaring voice: "NO! I DO NOT NEED HIS HELP! I WILL NEVER ASK FOR THE HELP OF MARIO!"

"Sire, what of the attack of the Smithy Gang and the business with Count Bleck and Dimentio? Amongst others..."

Bowser lifted his head back and let out a demented laugh: "MWAHAHAHAHA! Those times, Mario came and asked ME for help!"

Deflated, Kamek just sighed. It was worth a shot. He was no friend of the protectors of the Mushroom Kingdom, but he knew full well that they were probably the best shot of dealing with the intruder that had stolen the Koopa Troop. Still, he was Bowser's advisor, not the Koopa King's... King.

"So, pops, what are we going to do?" asked Junior.

"Well, son, there must be some who will be willing to aid the Koopa Kingdom. Kamek! Tell me who could aid me!"

Kamek crossed his arms and began to think, and said names that could possibly interest his King:

"Captain Syrup?", Kamek half-suggested, half just sort-of threw out there.

"Who?" asked Bowser.

"Nevermind then, uhhh, Tatanga? No, wait, I don't know where we'd find him..."

Kamek reached behind and scratched his head, and then he realized the biggest name, the other reptilian king:

"What about K. Rool, King Bowser?"

Bowser just stared at his top advisor, a glare, as if to say: _"Seriously? ? The guy who gets beaten up by the Kongs?"  
_  
Kamek shrugged. Junior started to yell stuff out, but they just sort of ignored it. The Lakitu just sort of floated there.

And then came the loud voice of Wario:

"Hey, you guys need a job?"


	5. Chapter 4: Saw It on The News

Red was alive, so very much alive. The aches and pains on his body were proof of that. Pikachu and the others were in perfect health, however. After all, Pokemon centers were far better at healing Pokemon than human hospitals were at healing humans. And Chameleon turned back into a Charizard after a few hours, apparently. He was a Charizard when Red woke up there in the Cerulean City gym.

That was, in itself, a few hours ago. Now, he was in the commons room of the local Pokemon Center, with Pikachu by on his shoulder and the two wild Pokemon that had aided him against the invaders (and, it had turned out, gone and gotten Misty to come to his aid when he'd gone and flown off to try and save Mewtwo) sitting at his feet. On most days, the presence of Red of Pallet Town inside a Pokemon Center would have gotten at least some mild attention, but today wasn't most days. War had come to Cerulean City, and although surprisingly little death or damage had hit the city, it was still far more than it had seen in living memory. And, what's more, upon a special screen put up for those who were taking shelter in the Center, there came news that Cerulean had not been alone.

"We are getting reports from across our world of strange invaders attacking areas where legendary Pokemon are rumored to live..." said the newswoman, who sat alongside a Clefable that was there simply to provide some much-needed warmth and distraction from the news of the day, "... Ilex Forest in Johto, three different locations in Hoenn have been confirmed to have been attacked, even areas as far as Unova have been assaulted... and in Sinnoh... well, here's some video we've gotten in from Jubilife Television from near Mt. Coronet," she said, as the screen cut to a handheld video:

It was a Lucario, blue, determined, standing tall with black portions here and there and spikes on it's arms and chest. Red had seen a Lucario only a few times, but he always liked them. They seemed to have a quiet strength to them, and were extremely loyal, with a sense of justice.

And they could put up a fight: the one on the television was greatly outnumbered, surrounded by weird-looking green creatures that vaguely looked like Krokoroks or a leaner Feraligatr. They came at the Lucario one by one, but each was soon taught a lesson: the first was quickly sent down to the ground by a glowing Force Palm attack, the next was confused by a Double Team that allowed the Lucario to prepare his Aura Sphere, which he then released, knocking out the attacker. And then, two tried to sneak up behind him. Bad move, it turned out. The first was knocked out with a swift kick (Red couldn't quite figure out what move it was), and the second was thrown...

...right into the camera.

Static. And then back to the newswoman and Clefable. They said things, but all Red could hear was the concern of his ever-present companion:

"Pikaaa..."

* * *

Onett was a quiet Eaglelandian town of about 3,500 people, and it had been even quieter the last year or so. It wasn't too long ago, back in the year 199X, that there were problems with spiteful crows and the street gang known only as "The Sharks." Oh, and there was the time that meteor landed north of town, and then later that year there was the whole deal with those aliens that invaded. But, still, it was all good now.

And, unknown to them all, the single most important person related to all of those events was a now 14-year-old boy named Ness, who lived with his mother, sister, dog and, in theory, his father. Yes, Ness, the leader of the Chosen Four, psychic wunderkind and lover of steak, baseball and rock'n'roll, just like any good Eaglelandian boy was supposed to be.

However, the problem with saving the world from a Universal Cosmic Destroyer at the age of 13 is that, well, you kind of have peaked. Oh, sure, you can go to school, play little league, and generally hang out (when not sending flirtatious little love letters to your friend down in Twoson), but, well, it's not quite the same. The price of greatness, in a way.

So, today, Ness, looked down from his hill-top home at his hometown, thinking about one of the few loose ends from his adventure: Pokey Minch.

_"Come and get me, loser! Spankety spankety spankety!"_ That's what the last letter from him had said. But that came after the final clash in the Cave of the Past, where could he have gone? Was he going to come back to try and get him?

Ness realized it wasn't healthy to think about it, and turned back towards his home. And it was then that it happened, one of the most feared sights he ever saw descended from the sky. There he was, spinning as he came down with his blonde hair. Ness so very much wanted to pull out his baseball bat, but, alas, his kindness got the best of him as his foe stood before him, produced his weapon, and then said the words that Ness had so long learned to dread:

"Pictures taken instantaneously!" said the man, "I'm a photographic genius, if I do say so myself!"

The photographer raised his camera, and continued to say the same thing he must have said to Ness something like 32 times: "Okay, get ready for an instant memory!"

Ness couldn't help giving a forced smile, thinking of what the photo-man was about to say next:

_Look at the camera..._

"Look at the camera..."

_Ready..._

"Ready..."

"Say, 'fuzzy pickles.'"

Ness have the peace sign and said exactly that: "Fuzzy pickles."

_Click_, the camera shutter sounded.

"Wow, what a great photograph!", the photographer-man said, "It will always bring back the fondest of memories..."

And then, just as inexplicably, the photo-man spun back up into the sky.

Ness stood there for a few seconds.

_Hang on_, he thought, _every time that guy showed up, we were about to do something important..._  
He ran towards his house.

* * *

Beyond, they argued. Sky, of course, was the one talking the most:

"We need to do something!" he yelled at his fellows, "Somebody is disrupting the multiverse!"

He threw up his strange ball-like hands: "Overthrowing kings! Stealing away mighty creatures and objects! Putting together armies!"

He began to jump, ever so slightly, as he continued to exclaim his displeasure, despite the fact that his dark brown hair seemed as stuck as plastic despite his thrashing: "This is a threat to all of us! To all of our kind! We need a team!"

A silence fell upon them, and then, standing up, was Lush, with his black hair firmly in place and an almost ever-present grin even during this:

"Well, we have two problems: we must find out what is causing this, and we need to stop those behind it. A team would work well..."

The next to speak, waddling up to Sky, was Bright, something of their leader:

"It won't be easy..."

A beat.

"But I guess we have to do it."

"On a limited basis," came the voice of Mountains.

Sky gave a quick smile:_ Better than nothing_, he thought.

* * *

Ness was eating steak and listening to the Runaway Five on the radio when it happened. It was weird, too, since he was just thinking about how, despite the photo-man's appearance, things seemed to be pretty calm. Well, a minute later he probably was kicking himself for even thinking such a thing possible.

"We interrupt this broadcast for a special announcement: Strange creatures are attacking Fourside-"

It didn't matter what the rest of the announcement was. Ness was up and he was running to the door.

"I'm-going-to-Fourside-Cya-Later-Mom!" he said quickly.

_Slam_ went the door. And now Ness again looked at the city of Onett. But not for long. Feeling deep into himself and thinking hard, Ness began to run in a circle. And then, shouting at the top of his lungs, he screamed:

"**PSI TELEPORT!**"

Ness saw the green grass of Onett bend, stretch and fade around him, and the cityscape of cement, brick, iron and glass of Fourside ahead of him. Closer... closer. Ness blinked, and now he was stepping out of the wormhole... and he was in downtown Fourside!

Screeching to a halt not far from a park, with the Museum and Monotoli Tower not far from him, he could already see the invaders. And they, it seemed, quickly noticed him, as they approached him. They were... weird looking. And Ness of all people would know what weird looked like.

The invaders swarming Fourside, attacking the populace, looked like clear crabs, with red cauliflowery brains visible through them. And they floated, their sucking pincers hanging from below them.

And as they approached, he could tell even more that they had not come in peace. In fact, it was time for a fight. He could feel it.

"It," you see, seemed to blare into Ness's mind, perhaps a result of him psychically sensing the identity of his foes, out of instinct.

_Metroid and it's cohort attacked!  
_  
Ness wasn't sure what a Metroid was, but as he drew out his baseball bat, he intended on teaching them a lesson.

* * *

"We've lost contact with 0781," came the booming voice of Free over a speaker.

Sky ran over to the speaker and spoke back: "Did you say the Mushroom World is gone?"

"No, it's still there, but it's... shrouded. Walled off."

That wasn't any less disturbing.

"Keep trying," came the voice of Bright.

"We have an incursion in Universe 0789," said Thread, the Mii in charge of that strange, strange world, "In the year 199X+1, Fourside."

"The leader of the Chosen Four is engaging the invaders... I think they are from 0886..."

His calm manner was somewhat disturbing, usually Thread was more of a whimsical, humorous type of being, as strange but brilliant as the world he watched. As Sky heard the words echo to him down the corridor, he realized what it meant.

"Then we have our first place," said Sky, "Flat, Hill, are you ready?"

"Yes, are you sure these are the first ones you want recruited to your team?" said Flat, an older one with a widow's peak and slightly graying hair.

"No, but you heard Bright and Mountains, they don't want to go fully with my plan yet, so they are keeping it to those that already have been exposed to the problems."

Flat knew what he meant.

"The robot will be ready soon, and I'll contact my old friend."

**Next time: The Battle of Fourside! **


	6. Chapter 5: The Battle of Fourside

ROBOT OPERATING BUDDY INITIATION SEQUENCE...

SEQUENCE INITIATED...

POWER SYSTEM: ONLINE

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: ONLINE

MOTORS: ONLINE

SCANNERS: ONLINE

WEAPONRY: ONLINE  
BURNERS: ONLINE

SPEECH SYSTEM: ONLINE

MISSION PARAMETERS: UPLOADED

COMMENCING MISSION...

* * *

The Metroids- or whatever they were called- we surprisingly hard to defeat. Ness really didn't like that. His baseball bat was merely sending them back, his PSI seemed to hurt them, but they still kept coming. And he was getting tired. Another Metroid came towards him. And he stepped into his swing:

_**SMAAAASH!**_

The invader was sent away, it's balance ruined, it's control no longer existent. Like a rocket, it flew, high into the sky.

Ness would have smiled and walked away happy... if there weren't, like, twelve dozen other Metroids coming at him. And so, Ness did the one thing he never did during his adventure:

He ran. Not because he was afraid, but because he needed time to think. It'd been so long since he'd fought alone. He'd almost forgotten how to do it, he'd fought with friends by his side for so long. But now, there was no Poo, no Jeff... no Paula. In fact, he couldn't help but think:

_Maybe I should have called them?_

Ness was now in a park, and he kept running. He was getting close to that old Cafe, if he remembered correctly. Where the Mani-Mani statue was, where he'd entered that bizarre dimension of Moonside.

A shiver went down his back. And then he realized something:

They might not have been with him physically by his side, but _psychically _they were with him. At least, in a fashion.

Ness turned around, and then, with a cry and a hand motion, he shouted out the words:

"PSI FIRE!"

A small lightning-boltesque projective came from his fingers and darted towards the lead Metroid. And, when it struck it, the invader burst into flames.

...but kept coming!

Ness once again reached for his bat, but stopped. The time for games was over: it was time to unleash his ultimate ability:

Ness jumped and let out a scream: "PSI ROCKIN'!"

From somewhere, the strands and shapes crossed the sky: not quite physical, but not quite intangible. It was not quite fire, but not ice, either. They were simply the parts of PSI Rockin', and they streaked and strobed into and around the Metroids. Cries came from the strange air-jellyfish-things, and they ran away. Finally.

Ness was tired now, but at least he figured those things would be gone now, or at least no longer threatening anybody. Right?

_Flap_-_flap_-_flap_-_SCRRIIIITTTCCH!_

_Wrong_, thought Ness. He turned his head to the air, and he saw what was making the sound. It was... some kind of dragon or dinosaur. It was big and a dark purple, and, well, Ness could already tell it wasn't friendly. And, as it turned to face him, with Metroids following, Ness immediately realized the fight wasn't over.

_Ridley and his cohorts attacked!_

But maybe, he thought, he could end the battle before it began. Once again, he thought back to his friends. Putting great effort into his mind, he called it out:

"PSI THUNDER!"

Nothing happened. He tried again.

"PSI THUNDER!"

Nothing. He must have been tapped out. No more power. Tapped out.

The dragon- "Ridley"- dove downwards towards him, and Ness pulled out his baseball bat to prepare for a fight he sensed he couldn't win.

And thought for a second about everything: Buzz Buzz. Paula. Jeff. Poo. Magicant. Giygas. Pokey.

"_Come and get me, loser! Spankety spankety spankety!_"

The dragon kept coming, perhaps only seconds away when...

_Pew, Peow, Pew, Peow! _Light-green laser shots streaked across the sky, and the dragon screeched to a halt in the sky. And then, streaking across the sky were two planes.

No, not planes. They were like space-ships, like star-fighters from the Onett arcade, off-white wings swept back from a cockpit between two big blue structures. And then, from behind them, shooting out strange beams at the Metroids, was another ship, purple and gray. The two white fighters continued to fly on, and turn into the battle against the Metroids, but the gunship, it turned towards Ness. It looked almost like a helmet, or a person, to Ness.

_Please don't be evil_, he thought, _Just please don't be evil._

The ship landed, an elevator came down from it, and stepping out was a strange, almost mechanical figure. Ness wasn't feeling particularly confident now. The visor of the being seemed to look almost like a Starman, coming from the sky to do Giygas' bidding.

But then, something happened, the suited figure's helmet dissolved, and from it flowed yellow hair. It was a woman! And as she walked towards him, she extended a hand:

"My name's Samus Aran, we were told you could use a little help."

Ness extended his hand upwards (Samus was tall!), and returned the greeting:

"Hi, I'm Ness... thanks!" he stopped for a second, "Who are these guys?"

"Serious business," Samus replied.

Then, lofting through the air, came a sound: a heavy _flap_-_flap_-_flap._

Samus' helmet reappeared upon here head, and her right hand moved downward into what Ness could now see was a cannon.

And it was then that the _flap-flap _became louder, and closer, and then, there was a screech... and a voice!

"This world is none of your business, Samus!" Ridley cried as he glided over them. Samus aimed her arm cannon at the creature and let off a few shots, but they were fruitless. They saw Ridley crash into a building in the distance. Screams rose in that direction. Ness didn't even ask the new arrival for help- he just ran. He could tell that this Ridley was a bully, and he _hated _bullies.

Samus ran after him, but couldn't help opening up a radio link to the other interdimensional arrivals:

"Star Fox team, how's it going in the air?"

* * *

Fox McCloud sat in his Arwing's cockpit, but he wasn't the only being who was riding it: some of the creatures- the _Metroids_- had latched on. A quick check to his right side revealed his wingman, Falco Lombardi, was having an even tougher time of it. But the communications systems of their birds were still in perfect order, as they were not only able to hear the message from Samus Aran, but reply.

Or, in Falco's case, _sarcastically _reply: "Oh, it's going great up here in the skies for the Star Fox team, Miss Aran. We can only hope it is going as well for you down there."

"Cut it, Falco," said Fox, "Samus, you said these things don't like the cold, right?"

"Correct, unless you have a Nova Beam or a very large explosion."

"How big of an explosion?" asked Fox, deadpanning as another Metroid went and landed on the fast-moving Arwing.

"A planet or two often does it," said Samus.

The Star Fox team didn't even bother answering that. Too ridiculous of a comment. Then again, they should have talked.

"Well, Falco," said Fox, "We really just need to get these things off us right now."

"Yeah, thanks, Fox, I realize that," his friend replied.

"You know what Peppy would say..." said Fox.

"No. No, I am _not _saying it!"

"Time to barrel roll!" said Fox.

A twist of the controls, and Fox's Arwing began to spin, briefly, he could see the ground below, and just as briefly, he could see the Metroids falling from his hull. A brief check to his right showed the same to Falco.

"Gun it, before they come at us again!"said Fox.

"Jeez, I know, Fox," Falco replied, as their Arwings sped up away from the disoriented Metroids, "And it's _not _a barrel roll, it's an _aileron _roll, why do we keep letting Peppy say that?"

Fox wasn't sure whether to dignify that with a response, but a beep on his cockpit console gave him another reason.

"Hang on, Falco, we've got incoming!"

"Great, just great..." said Falco.

And then, the incoming identified himself with a chilling, angered voice:

"Hello, Star Fox!"

Fox knew that voice: _Wolf._

* * *

Ness and Samus ran to the building that Ridley had broken into. It was an ugly sight: injured people lay on the ground, scared people ran in every direction, and, of course, one guy just sort of stood around wondering what all the fuss was about. The front of the building had been all-but completely torn down, but hanging from the side, tilted and knocked down, was the sign, checkerboard-backgrounded and with yellow letters: "CAFE".

"Why?" shouted Ness, "We smashed it!"

"What?" asked Samus, a bit confused: she and the Star Fox team had been told that there assistance was needed, the robot hadn't really told them the details. But now that she'd seen Ridley, it didn't matter. What mattered was that Ridley was, somehow, once again alive. And that meant that she was going to kill him, something she swore she'd already done several times. Once, Ridley had been like a bogeyman to her, a looming nightmare. Once, it had gotten the best of her, somehow.

But she'd decided since then to make it the other way around. Ridley, whether the original or some type of clone, was going learn to be afraid of **her**.

But at hand, Ness spoke of a different nightmare: "The Mani-Mani Statue!"

"What was that?" said Samus, who weaved past a scared Foursider who ran past them. They were perhaps only a few dozen yards away now- Samus's visor could already pick up Ridley.

"A strange... evil... statue... thing."

They were now so close to the cafe. Ness too could see Ridley, and he had words for the strange dragon invader:

"Hey dummy! The statue is gone!"

_Skrriiiitch! _The invader turned and faced the young psychic and the the armored bounty hunter. His wings opened up, and he raised a talon that held a strange metallic bag.

"Not everythingggg, boy!" spouted out Ridley.

Samus began to charge her arm cannon, but before she could unleash her charge beam at the fiend, he took to the air. She swirled around and saw Ridley fly away.

"Not this time!" she yelled, unleashing more shots from her arm cannon.

Ness couldn't help but stand there wondering how he could help this strange woman. He didn't have enough energy for a PSI attack, but maybe he had something else. As Samus began to run at the fleeing Ridley taking shots at the space pirate, he opened his backpack. He went through his inventory:

An old Yo-yo? Nope, that wouldn't help. Besides, he had a better one that he had out already.

Insecticide? Nope, Ridley didn't look like a bug.

Slingshot? It'd have to do. Ness zipped up his backpack and ran to try to catch up with Samus.

Samus' latest shot again missed, and she knew that this wasn't going to end well. It was taught back at the Galactic Federation: _Air support! Air support! Air support! _

"Where is my air support, Star Fox team?"

* * *

_Ee-yook-yook-yook-yook! _The Arwing's innards were on red alert.

"We're a bit busy, Samus!" shouted Fox. Somehow, Wolf had gotten behind him and dealt some damage. Stupid mistake. Falco was never going to let him hear the end of it.

"Fox, Wolf's on my tail. A little help?" said Falco.

_Wham! _Fox juked his head backwards to once again see Metroids gaining on him. The Arwing wouldn't be able to take much more.

"I'm sorry, Falco, it appears I'm going to have to bail," Fox spoke not just to Falco but to Samus.

"Scared, Fox?" snarled Wolf, tapping into his communications (one of these day's Fox was going to get Slippy to fix that!).

"Are you kidding, O'Donnell? Without me getting in his way, Falco will handle you in no time!"

Another Metroid hit the Arwing, and Fox knew what he had to do. He closed his eyes, and, with the press of a button, the cockpit opened, and he ejected from the Arwing. A Metroid came at him, but a swift kick shooed it away. As Fox fell towards the ground, waiting for the right moment to activate his rocket pack for a good landing, Fox heard Samus again:

"I still need air support!"

* * *

Samus and Ness weren't going to catch Ridley, and Samus realized that her only hope was going to come from the air.

"I repeat, I need air support!" she shouted into her radio, "I need somebody to shoot him out of the sky."

"I don't think they can hear you- whoever they are," said Ness, who then spotted something coming down from high to his right, diving down from the sky. He couldn't quite make it out, but it seemed... orange?

"What's that?", he cried.

Samus turned her head quickly. Her visor saw the incoming object as well. She tried to zoom in, but it was coming in too fast. So fast, in fact, that within seconds, the zoom wasn't necessary... and the object identified itself with a cry that echoed throughout Fourside:

"CHAAAAARIZAAAAARD!"

* * *

The wind whipped in Red's hair as his Charizard dived down at the strange purple dragon, and he couldn't help but smile as his old friend, now back to his old self, gave off a battle cry. In fact, the feeling of exhilaration was infectious, and it wasn't long before the other Pokemon on Charizard's back were shouting the same as they dove into battle:

"PIKACHU!"

"PICHU!"

"JIGGLY!"

Red smiled and shouted: "Okay, Charizard! Those people need help, let's do it!"

The dive increased even more, and the purple dragon got closer, closer, closer. For a second, Red thought he'd heard it turn and yell "WHAT?!", but the wind was probably playing tricks on him. And it didn't matter anyway, because a second later, Charizard's aerial tackle landed squarely...

* * *

Samus stared as the smoke and dust rose from the ground not far from where Ridley had been trying to fly away. She turned towards Ness, checked that he was okay (maybe because he was a kid), and saw him holding a slingshot. Samus wasn't sure whether to admire his use-everything courage or sigh at the idea of trying to take him down with such a pitiful tool.

Ness looked at her, gave a quick smile.

"Well, we did okay, right?"

"Yeah, uh... sure..."

It was then that the smoke and dust began to clear. And walking out of it was a strange group. One of them was human- far closer to the "human" that Samus was used to instead of the big-headed humans that she'd been seeing in Fourside, but with him were... creatures. Animals? Monsters? She wasn't sure. There were two relatively large rodents, yellow and black. There was a large (although far from Ridley-size) dragon with a fire emanating from the tip of it's tail. And, strangest of all, there was a round, light-pink creature, with eyes bigger than it's mouth.

The human, wearing a red baseball cap, waved at them:

"Hi, I'm Red," he said.

"Pikachu!" shouted the larger yellow mouse.

"Oh, and this is Pikachu. He and Charizard are my Pokemon, and Jigglypuff and Pichu here are our friends, so they kind of tagged along to help out."

"I'm Ness... and..." he stopped for a second and pointed towards the small monsters, "So... those creatures... fight for you?"

Red scratched the back of his head, "Well, yeah. That's what Pokemon trainers do... it's my cause," he paused, "I guess."

"That is so awesome!" blurted out Ness.

Samus then spoke: "I'm Samus Aran, and that was a good move there."

"Thanks."

Samus walked up to Red, and though the Pokemon trainer probably expected a hand shake, she was looking for something else. And, inside the small crater, she found it: Ridley. Beaten up, in shock, at her mercy. Ridley was very much alive, but he wasn't in any state to escape, of that she was sure.

"Time to go, Ridley..." she said to herself, as she began to charge the most powerful beam she had.

"What are you doing!?" yelled Red, who ran to her.

"My job," Samus said.

"It's helpless, beaten! It can't fight back!" Red said (Pikachu, on Red's shoulder, gave off a loud cry of agreement).

Ness ran up between them: "Uh, yeah, Ridley here doesn't look too good... seems kind of cheap..."

Samus knew these kids probably wouldn't understand. She could already tell they had never seen the type of stuff that she'd seen. Heck, Red looked like he had his monsters- his Pokemon- do the work for him. Still, it was only right if she enlightened him:

"'Ridley here' is responsible for thousands of death, he's a space pirate with no remorse or care, and he would kill all of you if he got the chance, I need to finish him now."

"No," said Red, "No you don't. He can't fight back. It's not right to do this."

Samus' charge was now complete, all it would take was a little motion, and she could blast Ridley's head off.

"It's finished! It can't fight anymore!" shouted Red.

Ridley, meanwhile began to laugh: "Heheheheheh..." and, producing a small object, began to fade.

Samus shuttered and fired her fully charged beam. Bright energy flowed out of her suit and streamed towards Ridley.

"NO!" yelled Red.

A purple void opened, and then Ridley- and all he carried- disappeared into it.

Samus stood still for a few seconds, looking at where Ridley had once been. She had had her chance and blown it, because of some stupid kid. She opened her helmet, let her face be shown as she turned to face the meddler.

"You," she said, "have no idea what you just did."

* * *

Falco had the Wolfen in his sights, locked on...

"So long, dear Falco!" said Wolf.

"Where you going, O'Donnell?"

A brief opening of purple, and the Wolfen disappeared. Falco couldn't believe it, and quickly took to the comm: "Uh, anybody else just disappearing out there?"

"I saw it too, Falco, with the Metroids" Fox said, "Now get back down here, it looks like Samus and some newcomer are having a... disagreement."

* * *

Fox had gotten a few stares as he ran through Fourside, but by the time he got back to the group, he was the one staring.

In front of him, two who should have been allies were instead in each other's face: Samus and the newcomer, and some little animals backing the newcomer up. The kid they'd been told they'd meet, meanwhile, was trying to get between them, to stop them.

"Listen up, 'Red'," said Samus, "I don't know where you come from, but where I come from, it's kill or be killed."

"Well, I'm glad I don't live there," said the newcomer, "because you seem to like attacking helpless opponents!"

"I seem to like doing my job!" shouted back Samus.

"Stop it!" yelled the local, who obviously wasn't getting much attention from either of them.

Fox decided to help as well: "Cut it out! Both of you!"

Red and Samus both turned and faced him- so did the creatures that were with Red, the local couldn't help but look a bit disappointed, as if he wanted to say _"Why did it work for you but not me?"_

"What happened?" said Fox, crossing his arms.

"She was trying to kill someone who was helpless!" shouted Red, who's yellow creature said "Pika!" in agreement.

"I was trying to put an end to a mass murderer!" said Samus.

"Both of you let him escape with what was left of the Mani-Mani statue! Argh!" shouted the local.

Fox heard an approaching Arwing- Falco was getting close.

"And, let me guess... he escaped through one of those purple rifts?"

"Yeah," said Red.

Fox was a born leader, and he knew right away that how this turned out could help determine the success of this new team. The robot, after all, had seemed to imply to them that this was just the beginning. Where had that robot gone anyway? Didn't matter. What mattered now was what he was going to say here: he had to come up with words that were not only correct and truthful to his opinion, but wouldn't offend any of the others. It didn't take long for him to come up with a good way of doing that:

"You should have tried to take him captive, maybe he'd have information," Fox said. A good line, he figured: he wouldn't give away what he thought, and it was true- it would have made sense to interrogate Ridley. Fox may have been more mercenary than soldier, but he knew strategy, that was for sure.

But there was one thing that was bugging him:

"Samus, why couldn't you have used your gunship to go after Ridley?"

Samus was silent for a second, and then, with a sharp, dry voice, responded:

"Who put you in charge?"

Ness then spoke: "Uhh, Mr. Fox-person, I, uh... think something's about to happen."

_THOOM! _A blast of wind hit them. And, suddenly, behind Ness, another rift opened. Only this one wasn't purple, and it wasn't a tear or wound. No, this one was round and a light blue, with perhaps a very dim yellow-orange aura to it as well. And, from it came not an aggressive Metroid, but instead the robot that had recruited them.

It wasn't very big, but it seemed like was something that had a hidden power to it: a elongated rectangular head, black "eyes", unusually shaped arms, a white rod for a torso and a odd base on the bottom where wheels and thrusters were hidden.

"Greetings again," it said in a droning, machine-like voice, "and to you, Ness of Universe 0789, greetings for the first time."

* * *

Ness was surrounded by stuff that he, in a word, found to be awesome. A person who had monsters fight _for him _instead of _against him_? Awesome. Armored bounty hunter, albeit a bit grumpy? Awesome. An ace pilot who looked like he was some type of human fox? Awesome.

And now there was a interdimensional robot? That was awesome too. In fact, it was sort of surprising he was able to keep his jaw up as he looked at the new arrival.

"I am R.O.B.," said the robot, "I have been tasked with assembling beings who have been exposed to the rifts in order to form a group to investigate and defeat the unknown opponent..."

Ness realized that R.O.B. was talking to him.

"So, uh, do you want me to help?", he asked.

"Affirmative. Please proceed through the wormhole, where you will be able to see what so few in the multiverse have ever seen," the robot turned it's head towards the others, "Please bring your weapons, vehicles and Pokemon..."

Ness heard Fox saying over his comm: "Falco, fly though the portal."

And he also heard Samus tell Red: "This isn't over."

But he didn't particularly notice either of them. He was about to go on an adventure!


	7. Chapter 6: Meanwhile

**Chapter Six: Meanwhile...**

Professor Elvin Gadd's laboratory was something of a mess, but that was par for the course for the brilliant but cooky scientist. Old television-like machinery hung around on the walls, books sat disoriented on some shelves here and there and some weird- rather unsettling- equipment and portraits also were around. But, right now, everybody was focused on the man himself. Elvin Gadd.

He was short, with crazy, swirly glasses and a football-shaped head that had nothing but a straight wisp of white hair upon it. Behind him was a strange set of pylons, although given what else was in the laboratory perhaps it wasn't that different. Gadd had been tinkering with it earlier as his guests arrived.

And what guests they were! The most famous of the Yoshis was there- the green one that was almost synonymous with his species. The most famous Toad was there as well, representing her highness Princess Peach Toadstool and Sarasaland's Princess Daisy- "Budget cuts," he had said.

Others had come from farther away: There was Lady Lima, old and green and there to represent the BeanBean Kingdom. And near her was Prince Pine, all the way from Jewelry Land. A Pianta looked around, not quite sure what to do, as he hadn't seen a lot of these type of people before, but especially not the fluffy marshmallow-like Prince Mallow, of Nimbus Land. Heck, he'd never even _heard _of Nimbus Land until today.

Toad, however, wasn't phased by any of this. He'd seen it _all_. He'd been serving Her Majesty for years, after all. That said, this worried him. It was his job to worry, after all, especially when Toadsworth was away on vacation. Somebody, after all, had to be ready to sound the alarm if the Koopas were attacking, or to help out Mario during his adventures, if need be. And the need... usually was. At last count, after all, the Princess had been kidnapped by the Koopa Troop approximately 17 times, give or take. At a moment's notice, he was ready to run out and start screaming for Mario's help. If whatever E. Gadd was doing was going to endanger the Princess, he was going to let Mario know _immediately_, dang nabbit! And so, as Gadd began to speak, with a whimsical gee-whiz to his voice, Toad was listening intently for any words that could suggest danger.

"Thank you for coming," said the diminutive scientist, "sadly it seems that the Kongs, Koopas and Kremlings didn't get my e-mail..."

He stopped for an awkward second.

"Anyway!" he said as he clapped his hands together, "A few weeks ago, I began work on my latest creation..."  
He swept his hands over the strange pylons, and declared it's name:

"THE DIMENSIONAL ORGANIZED OBSERVATION MACHINE!"

The others were unimpressed and confused. What was so important about this thing? But Toad, ever worried and watchful, saw something wrong with the Dimensional Organized Observation Machine.

"Gadd, that spells DOOM!" he shouted, jumping into the air. Before giving a chance for Gadd to respond, the mushroom retainer's feed were running towards the door, and his voice sent out a panicked yell:

"MAAAAAARRRRIIIIOOOOOOOO!"

The Toad reached the door, opened it quickly, went through, and let it slam behind him.

"Yoshi?" said the green Yoshi, a mix between amused and confused. Although it was said in the language of the Yoshis, everyone somehow understood what he said: _"What just happened?"_

Muffled, the cries for the Mushroom Kingdom's hero continued as the dignitaries inside the laboratory gave each other worried glances. It was then, however, that the yelling stopped. A muffled shuffle could be heard, and a few seconds later, the door opened, and in walked Toad, a bit exhausted-looking, but still alert and worried.

"Uhhhh, what's the DOOM do, anyway?" he said, "So I can tell Mario."

Gadd gave off a brief chuckle, and then started speaking.

"Anyway, I have long been fascinated by all manners of science- ghosts, time travel..."

"Yeah, no kidding," muttered Toad, who still remembered the whole business with the Shroobs.

"...Hydraulics and communications amongst them. But now, I had decided to move on to inter-dimensional space? What lies beyond our universe?"

"GET TO THE POINT, GADD!" shouted out Toad, still frazzled from his little run.

Yoshi turned and began to speak. While everything he said was a variation of his name, everybody understood it as "C'mon, Toad, show Gadd some respect, if it's something bad, I'll go help Mario too."

"No, no," said Gadd, "I should, as they say... cut to the chase?"

He continued: "Anyway, the Dimensional Organized Observation Machine was created to see what lies beyond our dimension-" he moved his glasses up slightly as he continued, "-and so, for my first few weeks of tests, I saw what I believe were other universes..."

He made a strange sound and made invisible circles with his arms, as if he was trying to grab and lift a giant ball that only he could see.

"They were magnificent! Great orbs of existence!"

Mallow interjected: "But, but... didn't Smithy come from another dimension?"

E. Gadd replied: "Well, based on my research, it was technically a pocket dimension attached to this one, not a total other universe."

"What is the difference between a dimension and a universe, Professor Gadd?" asked Prince Pine.

Toad then yelled: "Who cares? Why is this important?!"

Gadd produced a button, big and red, and pressed it. Suddenly, the pylons crackled, and a image seemingly materialized between them: black. Endless black.

"As you can see..." said Gadd, "Now there is nothing."

The room was silent. Gadd wasn't sure whether this was a "horrified" silence, or a "I don't know what that means" silence. So he decided to elaborate:

"Now," he said as he twitched his glasses a little, "I am not entirely sure what this means, but it appears that our universe has been cut off from the rest of the universes, or perhaps the others have been destroyed..."

He paused, noticing how some of his audience seemed to be trembling. Clearly, he thought, they must have been wanting to hear more... so he spoke again.

"Now, I'm no master of tactics, but I presume that this can mean one of two things..."

"What two things!?" interjected Toad.

"Well," said Gadd, "either destruction or invasion, I'd guess..."

It didn't take long before it happened again: Toad reached the door, opened it quickly, went through, and let it slam behind him. And, this time, he didn't come back. In the distance, echoing, came his cry:

"MAAAAAARRRRRRRIIIIIIOOOOOOO!"

* * *

After that, things happened fast. E. Gadd didn't have much time to get much more information to his guests. Yoshi had left almost immediately, chasing after Toad, no doubt wanting to assist Mario on whatever adventure was coming. The others had left shortly after that. And now, Gadd sat alone, looking longingly at his D.O.O.M., at it's utter darkness. And worrying about one of the major details that he hadn't been able to tell his visitors:

Sometimes, he heard something through his little interdimensional window:

The sound of somebody- or some _thing_- laughing.


End file.
